


Fresh Ingredients

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: M/M, also period discussion, jack is trans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-31 14:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12134457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Louisa takes Jack to Firfall to gather some fresh ingredients for blueberries. Jack belongs to SSO-Jack-Wolfwatcher.





	Fresh Ingredients

The phone vibrated on the table. 

"In a minute," Louisa mumbled, not taking her eyes away from her book. The phone vibrated again. "I said, in a minute!"

"It's Ydris," said Lisa, picking up Louisa's phone off the coffee table.

"Shh," Louisa hushed her, waving her hand. Lisa chuckled, but Louisa didn't hear. She was too busy being caught up in the book as it came to a climactic scene. 

"Can I speak now?" asked Lisa when Louisa turned the page and visibly relaxed.

"Yes, although it left me with many questions," said Louisa, reluctantly picking up her bookmark and sliding it in between the chapters.

"Well, they'll have to wait," said Lisa. "Because you know that if you don't answer the phone-" there was a flash.

"Answer your phone, woman!" said Ydris, picking it up off the table and shaking it at her. "The point of a phone is to answer it!"

"Sorry," said Louisa with a shrug. "I was reading a really interesting book."

"Please tell me it's not that Fifty Bales of Hay trash that everyone is reading," said Ydris with a roll of his eyes.

"Nope," said Louisa, turning the book around so he could see the cover. "It's about faeries."

"Yes, I'm sure that's the reason you bought it," said Ydris, raising an eyebrow at the scantily-clad woman on the cover. Louisa blushed.

"The really good sex scenes is only part of the reason," said Louisa.

"So is that what you were reading?" asked Lisa.

"No, it was an actual battle scene," said Louisa.

"I believe you, you weren't blushing," said Lisa. Ydris cleared his throat.

"If you're quite done," said Ydris.

"Sorry," said Louisa. "What do you need me for?"

"Jack is going through the worst days of dysphoria of the month," said Ydris.

"Ah, my sympathies," said Louisa.

"Yes, so I was wondering if you could distract him," said Ydris.

"How? And why me?" asked Louisa. "Not that I mind, I'm always down to help a friend, but usually he goes to Z for help, or you."

"He specifically requested baked goods," said Ydris. "And Z just hasn't been the same lately. I'm a little too busy with my own work too."

"Sure you're not just grossed out about the whole period thing?" asked Louisa.

"Of course not, I'm just busy working on shows now that I have them again," said Ydris. "The performing arts are coming back to Jorvik, and I am utterly delighted by that fact."

"Okay, I believe you," said Louisa. "I'll just grab my best horse and be on my way. Think you can meet us by the tunnel near Firfall?"

"Can I come?" asked Lisa.

"Three's a crowd, babe," said Louisa. "And I don't want to make Jack feel bad by bringing my girlfriend along."

"Fine," said Lisa, sighing and leaning back into the couch cushions. She picked up Louisa's book and flipped through it until she found the right page.

"Don't lose my page," said Louisa as she left the house, Ydris following her.

"Firfall, eh?" said Ydris. "That seems to be a popular place amongst your friendship group."

"What can I say? Unexplored wilderness, wild plants, wild animals, a place nobody can get to..." Louisa smiled as she trailed off. "Plus it's beautiful."

"Which horse will you take?" asked Ydris as they stood in front of the stables at New Hillcrest, Ydris having teleported them there.

"A Jorvik Wild Horse would probably be fitting," said Louisa. "I'll be back in a sec."

She emerged on the back of a large chestnut mare with bright white mane and tail, and Ydris was amused at finally having something taller than him.

Jack was slightly amused to see that too, when Ydris opened the door to show his boyfriend what he'd brought.

"It's incredible, I never thought I'd see something taller than you," said Jack, though he still looked pale and was busy looking miserable.

"I know," said Ydris. "Come on, misery guts, get up."

"Yeah, my guts are fuckin miserable alright," Jack muttered. "I don't wanna get up."

"I know that feeling," said Louisa. "Kinda, anyway. But you'll feel better after, I promise."

"Did you bring me emergency baked goods?" asked Jack.

"Not quite," said Louisa. "We have to go get the ingredients first."

"Eh?" asked Jack, sitting up a little. "What do you mean?"

"How do you feel about blueberry muffins?" asked Louisa.

"Ohhh, yes please," said Jack, and Louisa felt a twinge of jealousy.

"God, I envy you," said Louisa.

"Why would anyone envy me?" asked Jack.

"Because you can actually eat at this time of the month," said Louisa. "I can't. I mean, I can, but I have no appetite and the nausea makes me too nervous to eat."

"Ahh, rip," said Jack. "I shall bring you nourishment when it's your time."

"Lisa already does but thank you," said Louisa. "Good to know that my friends have my back, even when my body is intent on starving to death."

"Yeah, well, you keep me alive," said Jack. He stood up. "Alright, I'll just, uh... change and meet you outside."

"We're going to Firfall to pick blueberries," said Louisa.

"Holy shit, why didn't you say so," said Jack, and he didn't even really mind when he had to grab a pad before he disappeared into the bathroom.

Jack had Robbie today, so the two looked quite mismatched on their way to the tunnel. Ydris didn't help, bringing up the rear on his white Jorvik Pony.

"What a ragtag bunch of misfits," said Louisa, smiling as she looked at the group.

"That sums up our friendship group," said Jack. "But you guys are pretty cool."

"Thanks," said Louisa. She stopped Mossleaf on the rocky hill. "We're here."

"Excellent," said Ydris, stepping out in front of the group. "Who will come forth for the blessing first?"

"Wow, you have gotten more dramatic lately," said Louisa, moving Mossleaf to stand in front of Ydris. "Wait, the spell will hide her if she changes colour, right?"

"It should," said Ydris. "But if not, nobody will look twice at a Jorvik Wild Horse in Firfall."

"Good point," said Louisa. The magic tingled over her skin, but Mossleaf didn't seem to mind it. She was probably used to the sensation of magic.

Jack's 'blessing' took a little longer, and Louisa understood why when Jack sat up straighter and grinned.

"Aww, thanks for the pain relief," said Jack.

"I couldn't leave you in pain," said Ydris. "Although I wish I could stop the greater pain."

"This is plenty," said Jack, smiling at his fiance. "See you in a few hours, I guess."

"Have fun, you two," said Ydris.

Louisa clung tightly to Mossleaf's reins as her large horse slid down over the rock, and Jack did the same with Robbie. But once they were on solid ground, they rode easily and calmly until they reached the massive, soaring trees in the misty valley.

"Man, I still tear up every time I see this place," said Louisa. "Not that I do that very often, because Linda still hasn't mastered illusion magic. She didn't even know she could do it until just recently."

"I tear up whenever I wake up to blood on the sheets," said Jack. "Or when I go to the bathroom and find blood. I know, I'm ruining the mood, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, I prepared myself for you to be miserable," said Louisa. "That's why Ydris called me, after all. You can vent."

"I do not deserve that man," said Jack fondly, but then his voice and mood took a different turn. "I just feel like my body is rebelling against me. The T is supposed to make my body get the hint, but then I wake up with cramps and it's like my body doesn't even care.. It's doing it just to spite me.

"Bodies suck like that sometimes," said Louisa. "Only I guess yours does all the time."

"At least you're trying," said Jack. Louisa bit her lip, looking up at the tall trees, and then decided to try harder.

"Ellie is a lie, Jack," said Louisa, looking back at him. "Who is she? I've never heard of her. I only know my good friend Jack, the only male friend I have."

"I'm sure you have other male friends," said Jack, though he looked a little better. But maybe that was just the effect of being among all of these trees.

"No, I don't, actually," said Louisa. "It's hard to be friends with straight guys, I guess."

"Or maybe it's because you're friends with a trans guy," said Jack. "Girls make you more comfortable, after all."

"I'm comfortable with you now because I've gotten to know you," said Louisa. "You know how uncomfortable I was around you at first."

"I guess," said Jack. "I'm shit company today, sorry. I'll just be over here with my animals." He'd spotted a squirrel nibbling on an acorn up a tree, and dismounted so he could walk towards it without Robbie frightening the little creature.

"Okay, you take your time," said Louisa. "I'll be picking blueberries."

Mossleaf was free to wander the forest while Louisa picked the blueberries, but it was a peaceful silence. Louisa looked over her shoulder after a while, and smiled at the sight of Jack sitting leaning against a tree with his eyes closed and a baby deer in his lap. She was pretty sure that he was asleep.

Chuckling, Louisa got back to her work, plucking the large blueberries off the bushes and putting them in the basket that she'd brought along. She ate a few, delighted at the taste. Who cared if they were dirty, there was nothing better than fresh produce. But that thought did stop her from eating any more. It wouldn't have stopped Lisa if she'd come along, which was the real reason why she hadn't taken her.

A lot of people would have found the silence awkward, or rude. But Louisa didn't mind it at all, and she knew that Jack didn't mind it. They both enjoyed the sounds of the wildlife around them, and the peace was lovely. Louisa felt like a visitor to a lost world, or to another dimension. This place was unlike anything else on Jorvik, except, perhaps, for Greendale. But even Greendale didn't have this beauty.

When Jack woke up, the sky and the light looked different. Hours must have passed while he'd been here, but he wasn't sunburnt. That was the first pleasant surprise. The second pleasant surprise was that he wasn't sore despite sleeping against a tree, except for the usual aches and pains of his body. The third pleasant surprise was the fawn curled up asleep in his lap, which brought a huge grin to his face. He gently petted it, and it lifted its head and looked at him with huge brown eyes.

"I took a photo, don't worry," said Louisa, walking over to him. She stopped when the fawn saw her, but then it went back to sleep with a contented little sigh. Jack couldn't stop grinning, especially when Louisa showed him the photo. Both fast asleep, not a care in the world.

"Aww, we're adorable," said Jack.

"Yes you are," said Louisa. "And look at us, a pair of faeries or elves in a mystical forest that hardly anyone has access to."

"You're the faery here," said Jack. "I'll be an elf."

"Or a Disney prince," said Louisa. "Look at you, you've even got Bambi."

"I don't think Ydris would want to have a pet deer," said Jack. "Hopefully this one stays here."

"Well, I've joined the wild animal pets club," said Louisa. "I have a wolf pup."

"What? When did this happen?" asked Jack.

"A few days ago," said Louisa, playing with her hair. Jack gasped, waking the fawn again. It stood up on long, thin legs, and wandered further into the trees.

"Why would you keep this from me?" said Jack. "I have to see this." Louisa laughed.

"Alright, you can hang out with Balto while I bake the muffins," said Louisa.

"That's exactly what I need," said Jack. He stood up, grimacing at the way the blood had pooled, but then called Robbie and mounted him. Louisa did the same with Mossleaf, and they rode back off together. 

At her dad's house in Cape West, Louisa mixed together the muffin ingredients while Jack cooed over Balto, who practically lived in the lounge room where the floor was carpeted with newspaper. She smiled, glad to have helped her friend feel better, even if only a little bit.


End file.
